Feigen finds silver lining in Spain

By Lorne Chan :
August 1, 2013
: Updated: August 1, 2013 11:22pm

Americans Nathan Adrian (left) and Churchill graduate Jimmy Feigen compete in the 100-meter freestyle final at the world swimming championships. Feigen passed his college rival Adrian to win silver, finishing second to Australian James Magnussen.

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Jimmy Feigen shows off the silver medal he claimed in the 100-meter free, his first individual medal at a world event.

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US swimmer James Feigen reacts after the heats of the men's 4x100-metre medley relay swimming event in the FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona on August 4, 2013.

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US swimmer Eugene Godsoe (R) shakes hands with US swimmer James Feigen after the heats of the men's 4x100-metre medley relay swimming event in the FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona on August 4, 2013.

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US swimmer James Feigen (R) speaks with Australia's Cameron McEvoy after the heats of the men's 4x100-metre medley relay swimming event in the FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona on August 4, 2013.

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Nathan Adrian (L) and James Feigen of the USA compete during the Swimming Men's Freestyle 100m Final on day thirteen of the 15th FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi on August 1, 2013 in Barcelona, Spain.

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US swimmer James Feigen (from top), US swimmer Nathan Adrian and Brazil's Marcelo Chierighini compete in the final of the men's 100-metre freestyle swimming event in the FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona on August 1, 2013.

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Silver medalist US swimmer James Feigen (R) congratulates US swimmer Nathan Adrian on taking third place in the final of the men's 100-metre freestyle swimming event in the FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona on August 1, 2013.

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Silver medal winner James Feigen celebrates on the podium after the Swimming Men's Freestyle 100m Final on day thirteen of the 15th FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi on August 1, 2013 in Barcelona, Spain.

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Silver medal winner James Feigen celebrates on the podium after the Swimming Men's Freestyle 100m Final on day thirteen of the 15th FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi on August 1, 2013 in Barcelona, Spain.

Photo By FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP / Getty Images

Gold medalist Australia's James Magnussen (C), silver medalist US swimmer James Feigen (L) and bronze medalist US swimmer Nathan Adrian pose on the podium during the award ceremony of the men's 100-metre freestyle swimming event in the FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona on August 1, 2013.

Photo By FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP / Getty Images

Silver medalist US swimmer James Feigen poses on the podium with his medal during the award ceremony of the men's 100-metre freestyle swimming event in the FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona on August 1, 2013.

Photo By PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP / Getty Images

Gold medalist Australia's James Magnussen (C), silver medalist US swimmer James Feigen (L) and bronze medalist US swimmer Nathan Adrian pose on the podium during the award ceremony of the men's 100-metre freestyle swimming event in the FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona on August 1, 2013.

Photo By PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP / Getty Images

US swimmer James Feigen prepares to compete in the semi-finals of the men's 100-metre freestyle swimming event in the FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona on July 31, 2013.

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James Feigen of the USA competes during the Swimming Men's 100m Freestyle Semifinal 2 on day twelve of the 15th FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi on July 31, 2013 in Barcelona, Spain.

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James Feigen of the USA competes during the Swimming Men's 100m Freestyle Semifinal 2 on day twelve of the 15th FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi on July 31, 2013 in Barcelona, Spain.

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James Feigen of the USA competes during the Swimming Men's 100m Freestyle preliminaries heat seven on day twelve of the 15th FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi on July 31, 2013 in Barcelona, Spain.

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James Feigen of the USA looks on after the Swimming Men's 100m Freestyle preliminaries heat nine on day twelve of the 15th FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi on July 31, 2013 in Barcelona, Spain.

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US swimmer James Feigen prepares to compete in the heats of the men's 4x100-metre freestyle relay swimming event in the FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona on July 28, 2013.

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US swimmer James Feigen competes in the heats of the men's 4x100-metre freestyle relay swimming event in the FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona on July 28, 2013.

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France's final leg swimmer Jeremy Stravius (from top) touches first to win ahead of Russia's Danila Izotov, US swimmer James Feigen and Australia's James Roberts in the men's 4x100-metre freestyle relay final swimming event in the FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona on July 28, 2013.

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Silver medal winners Nathan Adrian, James Feigen, Anthony Ervin and Ryan Lochte of the USA celebrate after the Swimming Men's 4x100m Freestyle on day nine of the 15th FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi on July 28, 2013 in Barcelona, Spain.

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US swimmers Nathan Adrian, James Feigen, Anthony Ervin and Ryan Lochte celebrate on the podium during the award ceremony of the men's 4x100-metre freestyle relay swimming event in the FINA World Championships at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona on July 28, 2013.

The 23-year-old surprised a stacked field in the 100-meter freestyle at the world swimming championships by winning the silver medal Thursday.

But he didn't celebrate much, getting a quick dinner in Barcelona, Spain, and playing cards in his hotel room.

He swam the best race of his life, and one of his first thoughts was that he was just 11-hundreths of a second away from being a world champion.

“I'm definitely not going to rest on this — to be that close to gold is at the same time so amazing and motivating,” Feigen said.

Feigen, 23, finished in 47.82 seconds and just behind Australian James Magnussen's winning time of 47.71. It's Feigen's first individual medal at a world event.

Swimming between Olympic gold medalist and fellow American Nathan Adrian and Magnussen, the reigning world champion, Feigen was relatively anonymous in the field.

He was in sixth place after 50 meters but stayed with Magnussen in the final stretch and out-touched Adrian (47.84) to claim silver.

Feigen, who set national records at Churchill before swimming at Texas, finished second to Adrian three times in the 100-yard freestyle at the NCAA championships. Feigen won his 2012 NCAA titles in the 50 and 100 after Adrian had graduated from Cal, and Thursday's race was the first time he beat him in a major event final.

“I had a whole lot of help from swimming in the lane next to Nathan,” Feigen said. “This is the first time I've out-touched him, but it means a lot more that I'm able to share the podium with him.”

Feigen found some redemption after a disappointing race in the 400 free relay Sunday. Swimming the anchor leg, he was passed by France's Jeremy Stravius as the Americans took silver.

He said he refocused after the relay and made a plan to finish strong in his individual swim instead of starting out quickly.

“I totally blew the relay and that really sucks — that was a crappy thing to happen,” Feigen said. “It took a whole lot out of me, but I had a whole lot of support here and got refocused for this swim. So there was sort of a silver lining.”

Feigen now has more silver to add to his 2012 Olympic silver medal, as part of the U.S. 400 freestyle relay team.

He'll have one race left at the world championships, likely swimming the semifinal heat of the 400 medley relay while Adrian swims in the final.

After earning his first individual world championship medal, Feigen already was looking ahead.

“This is still my first full year as a professional swimmer,” Feigen said. “I still have a whole lot to work on to be a world champion.”

Elsewhere, American Ryan Lochte bounced back from a disappointing start to the championships by winning the 200 individual medley.

Missy Franklin, the 18-year-old who recently graduated from high school, is 4 for 4 at the championships after anchoring the U.S. to victory in the 4x200 freestyle relay, matching her gold-medal haul at the London Olympics. Katie Ledecky, only 16 and getting ready for her junior year of high school, is 3 for 3 after swimming the leadoff leg of the relay.

Lochte has four events remaining and Franklin three. Ledecky will be a big favorite in the 800 free, the event that produced her breakout gold medal at the Games last summer.